1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a direct-current (DC) voltage booster apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background
DC voltage booster apparatuses for boosting DC voltages are widely known, as in those disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2001-55948 and 2009-118589. The DC voltage booster apparatus disclosed in the above-described publications includes, as shown in FIG. 3, a booster coil 2 connected at one end to a DC power supply source 1 and at the other end to a rectifier diode 3, a smoothing capacitor 4 connected between the rectifier diode 3 and a ground, and a switching device 5 disposed between a ground and the node between the booster coil 2 and the rectifier diode 3. As the switching device 5, a field-effect transistor (FET), for example, may be used. In this booster apparatus, a boosted DC voltage VOUT is output.